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Muddy Feet = Muddy Floors!


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OMG what do YOU do???

 

We've had a nasty bout of rain/snow/slush, and our back yard has turned to slop. Ick. The door to the back yard opens into the kitchen, which in turn opens into the carpeted living room. Our plans are eventually to replace the carpet with hardwood, but until then, mopping muddy paws at the door has become a fiasco. I'm headed out today to get a baby gate so I can gate them in the kitchen and have them tread cross towels laid out all over the floor because honestly its easier to wipe down he floor than it is to wipe down their feet.

 

Any other suggestions? I'm also considering one of those playpen things, and gating off an area by the door so I can corral them there until they have dry feet. Problem is, I cannot put a rug down because my door is set too low, it pulls it up when opened...hence the towels all over the kitchen.

 

Ugh. Rain go away!

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I feel your pain, and then some! :rolleyes:

 

I think the idea of gating them in the kitchen is a good one. Robin gave me the idea of putting down sheets to help with muddy paws. I take a full size sheet and fold it in half lengthwise and it helps protect the carpet and isn't so thick as to interfere with the door. Also it's easier to wash sheets than it is to wash rugs.

 

Yesterday, I spent a lot of time actually hosing down dog feet and bellies before even letting them in the door, but then I don't have any place to contain them where they can dry, so I lay the sheet down and use that to protect the carpet while I either towel them off or lead them to their crates.

 

J.

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I am so glad we have snow--feet stay clean (if not dry) all winter! Spring and fall can certainly be a mess though when the grass stops growing and gets ripped up by dogs and it's too warm for snow so we get rain instead. I usually just keep a towel by the door and wipe feet off as they come in. Or, if they're really bad, I use a jug of warm water to rinse them off while they are on the porch then wipe dry before letting them come in. And on the really bad days I try to avoid a lot of in and out. It certainly takes up time that could be spent doing other things, though.

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Try moving to the Pacific Northwest. We have muddy foot problems every day during the winter -- multiple times a day.

 

I put towels down by the back door and wipe everyone's feet as they come in (dogs come in one at a time). We went and bought two large packages of super absorbent yellow car wash cloths (from Costco of course) and keep them by the door for this purpose. It is not the dogs' favorite thing but they are used to the routine and put up with it. If I had to leave them in an x-pen to dry off they'd be in there all day since it just rains and rains and rains.

 

Lately I have been washing their feet instead of just wiping them down because even with wiping the accumulated dirt in the house is starting to get to me. Just wiping feet does not get it all off, and then it dries and falls off and ends up all over. I tried dabbling their feet in a pan of water when they came in, but they really hate this so it's more of an ordeal than I want to deal with. I've gone back to hosing their feet off on the back porch, and drying them with towels.

 

If you don't have a hose then the pan idea would probably work. I use a round plastic shallow tub that is about the size of a large dog bowl (if you are Asian you probably know what I am talking about, since they always seem to be in the kitchen supply section of Asian markets but nowhere else) but any kind of Rubbermaid thingie would do. If I bothered to clicker train my dogs to dip their feet it would be very easy to get them to rinse off when they come in. Then keep a towel handy to dry off their feet once the mud is rinsed off.

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I too feel your pain. :D I have a hose outside I use in early fall, late spring and summer. Otherwise, its a bucket of water and towels by the door. We also asked Santa for a carpet steamer. And when it's really bad, I carry the dogs to the bathroom and then you can witness this: :rolleyes:

P1050144.jpg

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Well, I'm only dealing with four paws, but when Scooter comes in he comes in through the laundry room where we wipe his paws. Been doing this since he was a puppy so he's used to it. If they're really dirty and not just wet, I fill a small plastic tub with warm water and dip each paw in, one at a time, then dry him off. That seems to work best on dirty feet. We look forward to the snow here too, since he usually comes in with just wet feet, but then we have to be sure to check his paws for snow or ice build up. Still better than mud! I feel for you! :rolleyes:

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LOL we just caved in and bought a steam cleaner. We also rent a super duty carpet cleaner every 2-3 months and tackle the carpet. Dry paws are the only positive I can think of in 100+ weather.

 

We went and bought two large packages of super absorbent yellow car wash cloths (from Costco of course)
So will we be seeing you, Solo, Fly, Jett, and the new hubby in a Costco customer testemonial commercial any time soon? :rolleyes:
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We can relate to that also. We changed the door that Nellie comes in and out of and replaced the carpet with laminate floor. We put patios out all of the back doors to keep down some of the mud, which helped some. We also have a steam cleaner for when the carpet gets bad.

 

Our dream was to put in a dog room off the back of the house with a fireplace and a heated tile floor with a door to keep her out of the main house while wet. It didn't take long to change our mind on that after we started getting estimates for the work. :rolleyes:

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I'm lazy. My dogs have to cross the wooden deck to get into the house, so when it's super muddy, I put damp towels on the deck that they have to walk over. Then I put dry towels, or an old comforter, down on the carpet just as they come in.

 

In all but the worst of mud, that does the trick. By the time they get to the carpet, most of the mud is off. What gets on the carpet I allow to dry and then vacuum later.

 

When it's really, really bad - like the dogs are muddy underneath, not just the paws - I meet them at the door, carry them in, put them in the shower and rinse them. Thankfully, it's only that bad a couple times a year - usually in the spring after a big thaw.

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Way back when we had our first dog, and gradually 3 kids and 2 cats, I just gave up on clean floors. Even if I could force the kids to wipe their boots on the mat and take them off on the porch, the dog and cats refused to do anything but walk right in.

 

OK, my grandmother, with a dog, a cat, a professional musician for a husband, 3 daughters, and a full-time job in the linen mill, kept her house so clean that you could eat off the floor. (She also sewed most of the family's clothes, did fine crocheting and embroidery, and - God help her - did pulled work for relaxation.)

 

I told my family that they were not to eat off the floor. With luck, the tables were clean enough to eat off. If they wanted more, it was up to them!

 

I have tile in the kitchen, breakfast area, and laundry. I have hardwood with inexpensive pseudo-oriental carpets in most rooms. And I have wall-to-wall in the den - but it is what we know as "pub carpet" - a print that includes all the colors of anything that can be spilled or tracked in. Just like our favorite pubs in Yorkshire all have.

 

DH and I live here. If we don't mind, who cares?

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Yoy... I have been messing with this on Bess lately... She doesn't take to the shower too nicely, balks at a pan of water...gee, you'd think I was gonna drown her or something... so now I've decided a 20 oz plastic tumbler with a little water in it works ok to dip paws in one at a time. Then I hook her leash on the doorknob and tell her to dry and let her relax by the door for a little until she has licked the excess water off and is relatively harnless. (It's mostly just DH and myslef here and we don't spaz out over the floors either, unless were having 'cumpny'.

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Even more absorbant than towels or sheets are mattress pads. I use old ones, and can always find a few at Goodwill. Depending on their size, I can fold them in half or thirds and flip to the clean side at least once before washing them. To a certain extent, there will always be cleanup during the muddy season. Take it from another Northwesterner!

 

Kathy Robbins

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I'm with Julie, we don't only have muddy feet it's the tail, belly, chest, etc. I would need a dunk tank to get all the mud off them.

 

We also had plans on adding a mud room for the dogs but the estimates were $14,000 and up. Now we are looking for a new house and a separate room is on top of the list so the dogs can dry before entering the living space. I'm sick of mud.

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Lately I have been washing their feet instead of just wiping them down because even with wiping the accumulated dirt in the house is starting to get to me. Just wiping feet does not get it all off, and then it dries and falls off and ends up all over. I tried dabbling their feet in a pan of water when they came in, but they really hate this so it's more of an ordeal than I want to deal with. I've gone back to hosing their feet off on the back porch, and drying them with towels.

 

The hose is my preferred technique, too. It's fast and even if Senneca hates it, it's over quickly. At the dog park, if it's just a case of dirty paws, I get her to paddle in the lake and walk her through the grass back to the car. There are wash stations -- with hose -- at the gates for more serious cleaning. I always have a few shop cloths (towelling material -- from Costco) in the car for wiping paws. Thankfully, we live in a desert, so this is only an occasional problem.

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We're incorporating a kennel with a heated floor and shower in the basement of our addition (thanks to everyone for your suggestions). Since the basement has radient heat in the floor, and I wanted a shower in the basement anyway, this hasn't really added to its cost (kennel door, cinder blocking and kennel panels were extra, along with labor). We also chose a brown sandstone flooring for much of the first floor because it doesn't show dirt and is easy to mop up (We're also buiding a special room in my kitchen for a faucet, drain and bucket. We constantly have a bucket and mop in use, which inevitably gets kicked over at least once a day.).

 

Wiping feet and towels help, but only to a limited extent. Hosing them off just insures that they'll shake the mud you missed on the walls and isn't practical when you have winter 6 months out of the year. And all this gets "old" when it goes on multiple times a day, for days on end . . . With 7 dogs, a farm and living in an area with some of the highest precipitation in the country, my whole house has been covered in a patina of dirt. I'm hoping to throw the dogs (and my husband and/or the occasional chilled lamb) in the kennel when they're really messy :rolleyes: .

 

I'll try to let everyone know how all this works after I've had some experience. Ultimately, I just think that white carpets and furniture and dogs don't mix.

 

Kim

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I'd like to know where y'all are finding these dogs that get only their feet muddy--mine generally get muddy on feet, legs, and bellies and require a hose.... I would be a filthy mess myself if I picked them up to carry them to the tub.

J.

 

Two things that do help, if they're not just out there getting pig-filthy: trim the feet hair, and trim or shave some of the belly hair off. I finally got around to trimming up my dogs' feet before this last round of rain and it helped a lot.

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Ultimately, I just think that white carpets and furniture and dogs don't mix.

 

Amen! I have cream colored carpet... I bought my house when I had just one dog - one dog that doesn't like to get her feeties wet or dirty, and doG forBID she get anything else wet or dirty. :rolleyes:

 

Anyway, my back door opens into the kitchen, and the kitchen opens into the living room. When it's not too bad I just put towels down on the kitchen floor, and the entry into the living room. But since we've recently had ten years of rain crammed into the span of about 3 weeks I've had to resort to letting one dog in at a time (by name) and then toweling off each dog individually.

 

My five do OK - Linc comes in pretty nasty, but the other four generally are decent. Spottie... Spottie on the other hand apparently collects enough dirt for my five put together. :D But she is SO blooking happy when she comes in I don't even have the heart to get upset at her royal pigginess. :D

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Two things that do help, if they're not just out there getting pig-filthy: trim the feet hair, and trim or shave some of the belly hair off. I finally got around to trimming up my dogs' feet before this last round of rain and it helped a lot.

 

You might should revise that to say "two things that do help, providing that the dog is not Spottie". :rolleyes:

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You might should revise that to say "two things that do help, providing that the dog is not Spottie". :rolleyes:

 

Geez, no kidding. I've never seen a dog get so filthy so quickly as she can! Something about foot speed, i think... :D There's a reason one of her nicknames is Spottie-the-pig.

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You can add Pip to the list of piggy dogs, but of course I think part of the problem here is the proximity of the barnyard and all the mud therein right now.... Step out the door and into muddy soup.

 

Oh, and I should add that I've often wondered if they're not all as freakin' filthy as Pip and that it's just way more noticeable on him because of the excess white. Such thoughts make me cringe though, so I usually try to put them right out of my head.... Blissful ignorance and all that. :rolleyes:

 

ETA: On the other hand, I'd be willing to bet that Nick stays sparkling white no matter what, damn him!

 

J.

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I have delt with the curse of the muddy paw my whole life. When we built the last house I insisted on

laminate or vinyl floors. The only part of the house with wall to wall carpeting is the living room where

the dogs know they are not allowed. Throw rugs are so much better as they can be taken to a cleaner.

I still stop my two at the back door for a "footie bath", which is a paw dip into a small bucket of warm water.

Then they are told to stand on a towel on the floor that removes 99% of the water. On rainy days they are

not let out unless I stand on the back porch to make sure there is no puddle diving. I know if I get sent to

hell there will be muddy dogs and carpets as my punishment. Mona

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Geez, no kidding. I've never seen a dog get so filthy so quickly as she can! Something about foot speed, i think... :D There's a reason one of her nicknames is Spottie-the-pig.

 

There's also a reason Spottie's crate was 3 feet from my back door! :rolleyes:

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